It’s time to stop lying to yourself so you can start making more money

I was recently scrolling through Instagram and a video caught my eye: A guy asked his viewers, “If you’re not willing to send DMs, are you really sure you want to start a business?”

The guy, it turns out, is Tanner Chidester. As the Founder of Elite CEOs – among other companies – Tanner has generated over 60 million dollars in the online coaching world.

But as a college athlete turned entrepreneur, his path to success was not always straightforward.

So If you’re struggling with your business, sometimes the answer isn’t the latest tool or someone to hold your hand and tell you it will all be better. Sometimes you just need a wake up call.

Tanner is here to give it to you.

I sat down to interview him for this week’s episode of the Launch Your Business Podcast where he shares:

• The hard truths you need to know as an entrepreneur
• The unexpected traits you need to be resilient as a business owner
• How to avoid “miserable success”

You can check out my key takeaways below:

Tanner shares the benefit of mentorship

“If I paid for help sooner, I probably would’ve made another $20 million and I probably would’ve saved myself from a lot of struggle and heartache.

Tanner recalled how he struggled for the first few years of his business and how it shaped his view on mentorship.

“Two years may not seem like a big deal but when you’re doing 16, 18 hours a day and you live in a shithole and you have a terrible car and girls are laughing at you; it doesn’t feel like it’s not a big deal. It feels like the world’s ending. And so I almost quit five times. And the only reason I didn’t is I had a mentor that told me not to, and I’d figure it out.”

Fortunately his mentor not only encouraged him not to quit, they provided him with the actions, tools and mindset needed to succeed.

The one tactic that led to his explosive revenue growth

“People forget, I did door to door sales for eight months, six days a week, 12 hours a day.”

Tanner describes this as one of the worst experiences of his entire life. This is why he was so excited about the idea of using direct messages on social media to grow his own business.

“When I was able to start making sales just using my phone it wasn’t fun, but I was making 10 times more just sitting on the couch. Before I was sweating all day, I would chafe my legs and even have guns pulled on me.”

This experience contributed to his confusion around why other people aren’t willing to take a similar approach; simply messaging prospective customers and pitching your offer.

“There’s so many other things you could go do, and make so much less, that are so much harder in terms of work and effort.”

Tanner clearly wants to win, but he wants you to as well

I often say perfection is the enemy of progress. Tanner shared his perspective on how a delay in taking action can lead to failure.

“You have to move quickly because if you don’t and you extend this timeline to success. Every day you go past that, you increase the chances that you’re going to quit.”

He continues and shares his motivation for helping entrepreneurs.

“That’s also probably why I’m so passionate because people, they don’t get it. And they think by not taking action they lose nothing. But you are losing something, you just don’t know what it is. Until maybe you meet your maker.”

Tanner concludes with a simple, but grounding statement that defines his mission.

“I just want people to win. I know what it feels like to lose, so I just want people to win.”

Next steps:

Ready to learn more from Tanner? Here are a few ways he can help you.

• Elite CEO, Business consulting – eliteceos.com
• Elite Closers, Sales training & placement agency – eliteclosers.com
• Elite Ads, Paid Ads Agency – eliteads.co
• Elite360, All in 1 CRM – elite360.io

You can also learn more about Tanner by visiting his website, and be sure to give him a follow on social media at tanner.chidester.

I love feedback! If you have any questions or suggestions for future podcasts please connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.

This article was written by Terry Rice, and originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com.